Closing Time 8/6: Ranking the Top 30 Closers Every Tuesday

Despite communicating that Ben Joyce would get the closer role after Luis Garcia and Carlos Estévez were traded, Ron Washington decided to roll with Hunter Strickland (who blew a save allowing a home run to Jake Cave) in the role a few times before coming to his senses and using Joyce. I hope for fantasy purposes and for the sake of Angels fans that the Strickland experiment is over and Joyce will see the majority of chances moving forward. He is still lacking in the strikeout department, but he has not allowed a run over his past 22.2 innings. Of all the shaky closer situations in baseball right now (basically 21-30 on the list this week), Joyce is my top option for the time being as someone who should be able to hold on to the role throughout the remainder of the season.

 

Notes

 

• Mason Miller was able to face live hitters yesterday and should be on track to be activated from the IL tomorrow. He should go right back into the closer role and should be able to remain in the role for the remainder of the season as my guess is the innings cap for him is likely around 60-65 preferably. Anyone who rostered Tyler Ferguson should feel free to drop.
  

 

• Ryan Helsley blew a lead last Thursday, allowing four hits and three earned runs, and also has zero strikeouts over his past three outings. It’s not the greatest trend for a reliever who has already totaled the second most innings in a season over his MLB career. That being said, the velocity is still staying strong, and he was really good from June through July. It’s not time to push the panic button quite yet, more so just something to monitor as things could be shaky over the next two months.

 

• David Bednar just can’t seem to right the ship this season, allowing four hits, three walks, and two earned runs over his past two outings, although he was able to escape with a save in each outing. Overall it’s just been a disappointing season for Bednar who holds a 16.7% K-BB, 28% CSW rate, and 4.35 xFIP over 37.1 innings. I don’t think he is in danger of losing his job soon, but it’s worth keeping an eye on his next few outings at least.

 

• Victor Vodnik has five saves since the start of July and looks to be in complete control of the closer role here, especially after the Rockies traded their best reliever to the Brewers at the deadline. Over his past 18.1 IP, Vodnik has a 28% strikeout rate, 0.93 WHIP, and 3.23 SIERA. We will gladly accept that from someone pitching in Coors half of the time.

 

• The Royals’ closer situation continues to be a headache with Hunter Harvey seeing the last two save chances. Harvey has a 7.97 ERA, 1.97 WHIP, 20.6% strikeout rate, and 4.94 xFIP over his past 20.1 innings dating back to early June and should not be near the closer role at the moment. James McArthur had been pitching better leading into the All-Star break but since then he holds a 12.15 ERA, 2.10 WHIP, 5.9% strikeout rate, and 6.40 xFIP over 7 outings. But Lucas Erceg has not allowed a baserunner over his first three outings with the Royals and he certainly has closer stuff so he would be my betting favorite for receiving the most saves here the rest of the season.

 

• Daniel Hudson is now up to eight saves on the season, with 5 coming since the beginning of July. I’m still not ready to count out Evan Phillips, who struck out the side this past week (4 K in 1.1 IP), as he is the best option they have when he is right. Michael Kopech has looked much better with the Dodgers, which shouldn’t be shocking, as the team has helped get his pitch usage to where it should be (which Jake Crumpler and I have been advocating for months on the In the Pen podcast). I see Kopech as more of a 2025 threat for saves, but depending on how the next couple of weeks go, there’s a chance he can leapfrog Phillips and possibly Hudson in the pecking order.

 

• The Diamondbacks have also removed their closer, Paul Sewald, from the role but I would also tend to believe there’s a good chance we see him back in that role this month, especially with how the replacements have fared. It’s quite clear that Torey Lovullo really wants Ryan Thompson to be the team’s closer in the interim, but he’s now allowed five hits, a walk, and three earned runs over his past three chances. I know Thompson has been steady but he is by no means your prototypical closer type, as the sidewinder averages 91 MPH on his fastball with just 17.7% strikeout and 8.6% swinging-strike rates. A.J. Puk on the other hand has been one of if not the best relievers in baseball since the start of June and I would hope the team would give him some more looks at closing out games. Kevin Ginkel and Justin Martinez have been great as well, but Martinez’s proclivity for walks and Ginkel’s issues since the All-Star break have me leaning towards Puk being the best option here.

 

• The Marlins are also looking for a full-time closer potentially, with Calvin Faucher being the early leader for the role as he has the team’s one save since trading away Tanner Scott. Faucher is a fine reliever, I just worry about the amount of contact he allows (not exactly soft contact either) to go along with his 11.4% walk rate. Anthony Bender has pitched much better as of late, as well as Andrew Nardi and I would prefer either one of Faucher at the moment. I lean towards Nardi over Bender slightly due to Nardi’s strikeout ability, but both have been great since the start of May really.

 

Pitcher	IP	ERA	WHIP	SIERA	K-BB%	CSW%
Calvin Faucher	33	3.82	1.52	3.98	12.3%	26.2%
Andrew Nardi	31.1	3.16	0.86	2.45	28.1%	30.6%
Anthony Bender	31	1.74	0.94	3.25	17.1%	31.3%

 

 

And if you want more daily reliever updates, please check out our Reliever Ranks series

 

Watch List

 

 

Rank	Pitcher	Change
1	Emmanuel ClaseT1	-
2	Devin Williams	-
3	Mason Miller	+UR
4	Josh Hader	-1
5	Raisel Iglesias T2	-1
6	Kirby Yates	-1
7	Robert Suarez	-
8	Andrés Muñoz	-
9	Edwin Díaz	-
10	Jhoan Duran	-
11	Ryan Helsley	-5
12	Pete Fairbanks	+2
13	Clay Holmes	-2
14	Camilo Doval	-2
15	Craig Kimbrel T3	+2
16	Kenley Jansen	-
17	Kyle Finnegan	-2
18	David Bednar	-5
19	Carlos Estévez	-
20	Chad Green	-
21	Ben Joyce T4	-
22	Héctor Neris	+1
23	Alexis Díaz	-1
24	Victor Vodnik	+3
25	Hunter Harvey	+UR
26	Daniel Hudson	-1
27	Ryan Thompson	+UR
28	Calvin Faucher	+UR
29	Jason Foley	-1
30	John Brebbia	-